MEASURES 


•••• 


ADOPTED  IN  B0S¥fri 


MASSACHUSETTS, 


FOR  THE 


RELIEF 


, OF  THE 


SUFFERING  SCOTCH 

AND 

IRISH. 


BOSTON,  N.  E. 
1 847. 

eastburn’s  press. 


REPORT. 


The  intelligence  of  tlie  prevailing  famine  in  Ireland, 
has  been  received  with  universal  sympathy,  throughout 
the  United  States  of  America.  The  sensibility  of  the 
whole  country  was  awakened,  by  the  thought  of  thou- 
sands of  fellow  beings  perishing  for  wTant  of  food.  It  was 
the  spontaneous  impulse  of  the  country,  to  hasten  to 
transmit  to  the  sufferers,  a share,  of  that  abundant  supply 
of  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  which  a kind  Providence,  with 
more  than  ordinary  bounty,  had  vouchsafed  the  last  sea- 
son to  the  People  of  the  United  States. 

As  soon  as  the  accounts  from  Ireland,  placing  it  be- 
yond doubt  tiiat  the  distress  was  general  and  urgent,  had 
circulated  widely  throughout  the  country,  measures  of 
relief  were  proposed  simultaneously  in  the  principal 
cities  of  the  Union.  A meeting  of  members  of  Congress, 
and  other  individuals  of  influence  was  called  at  Washing- 
ton, at  which  the  subject  was  presented  in  the  most 
striking  light  by  several  leading  Senators  and  Repre- 
sentatives. An  Appeal  to  the  People  of  the  United 
States  w^as  issued  by  direction  of  this  meeting,  and  a 
circular  letter  was  addressed  to  the  Committees  in  the 
principal  cities. 

On  the  receipt  of  this  communication  by  the  Mayor  of 
Boston,  steps  were  immediately  taken  for  holding  a pub- 
lic meeting  of  the  citizens.  The  invitation  for  that  pur- 
pose was  numerously  subscribed,  and  an  overflowing 
assembly  was  held  in  Faneuil  Hall,  on  the  evening  of 
the  18th  of  February. 

The  Mayor  on  taking  the  chair,  addressed  the  meeting, 


’•  ‘ and*  appropriate  to  the  occasion  were  introduc- 

‘\\fecfc  by  J.  T.  Stevenson,  Esq.,  and  supported  by  himself, 
, Dr.rTJewh.  land  Mr.  Everett,  in  addresses  which  gave  ut- 
, \}\t.erkiVce*  to  the  emotions  of  Christian  benevolence  and 
sympathy  that  pervaded  the  assembly. 

The  Committees  appointed  to  collect  subscriptions  im- 
mediately entered  upon  the  discharge  of  their  duties. 
The  reports  of  the  Sub-committees  have  not  all  been  re- 
turned ; but  it  is  certain  that  about  Fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars have  been  subscribed  in  the  city  of  Boston,  and  an 
equal  amount  in  the  New  England  States. 

While  these  steps  have  been  in  progress  in  Boston, 
similar  movements  have  taken  place  generally  through- 
out the  country.  Contributions  have  been  made  in  the 
churches,  subscription  papers  circulated,  and  funds  to  a 
large  amount  have  been  collected.  On  no  former  occa- 
sion of  this  kind,  it  is  believed,  has  so  deep  and  general 
a feeling  been  manifested. 

A wish  was  entertained  by  many  members  of  Con- 
gress, that  an  Appropriation  should  be  made  from  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States,  in  aid  of  an  object  which 
the  whole  People  of  the  Union  had  so  deeply  at  heart. 
Resolutions  for  that  purpose  were  brought  forward  in 
both  houses  of  Congress.  Doubts  however  were  en- 
tertained by  some  members  of  the  competency  of  Con- 
gress to  make  such  an  Appropriation  of  the  public  funds  ; 
— Considerations  of  delicacy  influenced  others  ; — And 
the  proposed  Appropriations  accordingly  failed ; but  a 
joint  Resolution  passed  the  two  houses  requesting  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  to  place  two  of  the  Public  Vessels 
at  the  service  of  the  Committees,  which  might  wish  in 
this  way  to  transport  to  Ireland  a portion  of  the  sup- 
plies furnished  by  private  benevolence,  for  the  Relief  of 
the  sufferers. 

One  of  these  vessels  the  Jamestown,  under  the  com- 
mand of  R.  B.  Forbes,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  who  has  liberallv 


5 


offered  his  services  for  that  purpose,  and  whose  active 
and  disinterested  exertions  are  entitled  to  the  highest 
commendation,  is  now  in  the  harbor  of  Boston,  loaded 
with  provisions  for  Ireland. 

It  would  he  unjust  on  this  occasion  not  to  allude  to  the 
generous  contributions  made  by  the  Irish  residents  and 
emigrants  in  the  United  States  for  the  relief  of  their  dis- 
tressed countrymen  at  home.  Although  the  emigrants  are 
for  the  most  part  men  in  humble  circumstances,  support- 
ing themselves  by  the  labor  of  their  hands,  the  sums  sav- 
ed from  their  hard  earnings  and  remitted  to  Ireland  since 
the  prevalence  of  the  famine  there,  have  been  very  great, 
but  form  no  part  of  the  sums  collected  by  this  Commit- 
tee. 

The  great  and  immediate  object  aimed  at,  has  of  course 
been  the  relief  of  actual  want.  After  this,  the  hope  has 
been  entertained,  that  the  kindly  feelings  called  out  and 
expressed  on  this  occasion  would  exert  a happy  influence 
on  the  relations  of  the  two  great  kindred  countries.  The 
vessel  which  conveys  the  first  offering  of  the  sympathy  of 
the  people  of  Boston  and  its  vicinity,  bears  the  name  of 
the  spot  where  the  first  settlers  from  England  established 
themselves  on  the  American  soil.  She  carries  we  trust  a 
not  unwelcome  practical  assurance  that  in  laying  the 
foundation  of  the  American  States,  the  Parent  Country 
did  but  commence  the  establishment  of  another  branch  of 
the  great  Brotherhood  of  Christian  Love.  To  strengthen 
this  assurance,  the  foregoing  brief  note  has  been  drawn 
up  to  be  conveyed  by  the  Jamestown  to  our  friends  in  Ire- 
land, and  with  the  same  end  in  view,  the  proceedings  at 
the  meeting  in  Faneuil  Hall  as  reported  in  the  Boston 
Journal  are  herewith  subjoined. 

For  the  Committee  of  Belief, 

JO  SI AIL  QUINCY,  Jr.,  Chairman. 
Boston,  March  27,  1847. 


MEETING  IN  FANEUIL  HALL. 


A meeting  to  devise  measures  for  the  relief  of  the  peo- 
ple of  Ireland  and  Scotland,  now  suffering  all  the  horrors 
of  famine,  was  held  in  Faneuil  Hall  on  Thursday  Evening, 
February  18,  1847, — which  betokened  the  deep  and 
heartfelt  sympathy  of  thousands  of  citizens  of  Boston  for 
their  suffering  brethren  in  foreign  lands. 

At  the  appointed  hour,  the  meeting  was  called  to  order 
by  Moses  Grant,  Esq.,  and  proceeded  to  organise  by  the 
choice  of  His  Honor  the  Mayor,  Josiah  Quincy,  Jr.,  as 
Chairman  of  the  meeting.  Mr.  Quincy  on  taking  the 
Chair  thus  addressed  the  audience  : 

u This  meeting  has  been  called  to  take  into  considera- 
tion the  present  state  and  the  future  prospects  of  the 
people  of  Scotland  and  Ireland,  and  to  decide  what  should 
be  done  by  the  citizens  of  Boston  for  their  relief.  As  to 
their  present  state,  it  is  unnecessary  to  harrow  up  the 
feelings  of  the  audience  by  the  repetition  of  the  scenes  of 
horror  that  have  been  described  in  the  pages  of  the  daily 
press.  But  as  to  the  future,  we  must  remember  that  it  is 
yet  six  months  to  the  harvest,  and  that  the  distress  great 
as  it  is  at  present,  may  be  but  the  precursor  to  that  which 


7 


will  be  much  greater.  In  such  a state  of  things  it  is  natural 
to  desire  to  do  something,  and  it  is  the  duty  in  an  especial 
manner  for  a community  whose  prosperity  is  increased  by 
the  calamities  of  others,  to  do  much  for  their  assistance. 
The  question  is,  what  can  be  done  ? The  vastness  of  the 
demand  almost  paralyzes  the  power  of  action.  But  great 
as  the  amount  of  suffering  is,  much  may  actually  be 
effected ; and  more  can  be  done  by  exciting  hope  and 
energy  in  the  sufferers.  We  are  told  that  despair 
broods  over  every  countenance — that  even  the  seed  corn 
on  which  the  next  harvest  depends,  has  been  consumed  in 
reckless  desperation.  The  inhabitant  of  Ireland  is  like 
the  sailor  swimming  for  his  life,  who  as  he  surmounts  bil- 
low after  billow,  catches  at  intervals  the  glimpse  of  the 
distant  beacon  that  tells  him  there  is  land  in  sight,  though 
his  sinking  heart  and  failing  arm  warn  him  that  he  shall 
never  reach  it.  Your  aid  will  inspire  him  with  the  re- 
newed confidence  that  such  a mariner  would  feel  if  he  saw 
the  life-boat  dashing  through  the  surf  to  his  assistance. 

But  the  call  for  this  charity  is  not  confined  to  its  reci- 
pients. It  is  emphatically  66  twice  blessed,  it  blesses  him 
that  gives  and  him  that  takes.”  There  is  hardly  a more 
beautiful  sight  recorded  on  the  pages  of  history,  than  to 
see  that  country,  which  once  imported  corn  from  the  old 
world,  returning  it  again  for  its  support.  It  again  re- 
alizes the  description  of  Burke,  u That  the  child  of  their 
old  age,  with  more  than  a filial  piety,  or  Homan  charity, 
put  the  full  breast  of  her  youthful  exuberance  to  the 
mouth  of  her  exhausted  parent.” 

But  the  scene  is  more  than  beautiful,  it  is  sublime.  A 
nation  hastening  to  the  rescue  of  a nation.  There  have 
been  times  when  conquerors  took  advantage  of  the 
exhaustion  of  famine,  to  subjugate  their  neighbors  by 
adding  the  horrors  of  war  to  those  of  want.  But  how 
much  nobler  the  sight,  to  see  in  the  capital  of  our 


8 


nation,  the  second  officer  in  the  government  aided  by 
a Senator  or  Representative  from  every  State  in  the 
Union — calculating,  not  as  they  did  a short  time  ago,  the 
power  possessed  by  this  country  to  war  against  and  injure 
England — hut  how  we  might  assist  her  in  feeding  her 
starving  children.  An  act  like  this  must  excite  a cor- 
responding feeling.  If  as  enemies  they  hungered  and 
we  fed  them,  we  should  heap  coals  of  fire  upon  their 
heads.  How  much  more  will  those  feelings  he  excited 
when  there  is  no  enmity  or  animosity  to  overcome.  If 
the  wild  Arab  is  forever  the  friend  of  him  of  whose  bread 
he  has  eaten — how  much  more  shall  Christian  England 
appreciate  our  aid. 

But  there  is  another  view  which,  as  sons  of  the 
Puritans,  it  is  well  to  consider.  Drawing  their  knowl- 
edge from  the  pages  of  history,  and  the  early  records  of 
our  religion,  they  believed  that  national  sins,  unless  fol- 
lowed by  repentance  and  atonement,  must  be  followed  by 
national  misery.  The  dispensation  founded  on  sacrifice 
has  passed.  But  may  we  not  hope  that  this  free-will 
offering  of  a great  people,  rising  as  it  will  from  the  moun- 
tains of  the  North,  from  the  prairies  of  the  West,  from 
the  savannas  of  the  South,  from  the  sands  of  the  ocean, 
from  the  borders  of  the  lake,  from  the  margin  of  the 
rivers,  from  every  valley  and  from  every  hill-side  through- 
out our  vast  republic,  will  be  an  accepted  sacrifice,  and 
this  act  of  a nation’s  charity  be  the  harbinger  of  a day 
foretold  in  prophecy — “ When  nation  shall  no  longer  lift 
up  the  sword  against  nation,”  when  connected  by  the 
modem  facilities  of  intercourse,  and  bound  together  by 
mutual  kindness  and  Christian  charity,  the  kingdoms 
of  the  world  shall  be  united  in  the  ties  of  universal  peace 
and  brotherhood,  and  love.” 

The  meeting  was  then  further  organized  by  the  choice 
of  the  following  officers : 


9 


PRESIDENT, 

Hon.  JOSIAH  QUINCY,  Jr. 

VICE  PRESIDENTS, 

Abbott  Lawrence,  Thomas  H.  Perkins, 

Nathaniel  Greene,  Simon  G.  Shipley. 

W.  J.  Hubbard, 

SECRETARIES, 

Lewis  W.  Tappan,  Marcus  Morton,  Jr. 

J.  T.  Stevenson  of  this  city  then  came  forward  and 
prefaced  a series  of  Resolutions,  as  follows : 

Fellow  Citizens  : — I am  permitted  to  offer  the  busi- 
ness resolutions  for  the  consideration  of  this  meeting, 
which  has  been  called  together  here,  where  all  love  to 
meet,  by  no  organized  committee,  but  by  the  cries  of  a 
starving  people.  We  all  know  the  very  general  sympa- 
thy which  is  swelling  in  the  hearts  of  our  fellow  citizens. 
That  is  plain  to  all  of  us  in  our  daily  walks. 

But  the  present  is  a case  which  individual  efforts  can- 
not reach.  It  is  a case  in  which  each  man,  however  rea- 
dy he  may  be,  cannot  be  his  own  almoner.  It  requires 
concerted  action,  or  that  sympathy  must  waste  itself  in 
expressions  of  good  will.  The  kindest  words  will  not 
feed  the  hungry. 

The  voice  of  distress  has  come  to  us  from  a foreign 
shore,  but  not  in  a foreign  tongue,  and  the  assembly  here 
to-night  gives  assurance,  if  any  such  were  needed,  that 
the  response  to  it  from  the  City  of  Three  Hills,  will  be  no 
empty  echo — that  the  tumult  of  the  ocean,  which  is  roll- 
ing between  the  sufferers  and  us,  is  not  loud  enough  to 
drown  that  voice — that  the  mountain  waves  are  not  high 
enough  to  impede  the  current  of  international  good-will. 

The  Resolutions,  which  will  be  offered,  have  for  their 


10 


whole  object,  the  furnishing  the  method  for  embodying 
the  feeling  which  prevails,  into  action.  It  is  concerted 
action  that  is  wanted — and  that  action  must  be  prompt. 
Delay  in  such  a case  is  cruelty. 

We  want  money — and  Boston’s  offering  should  be 
large — so  large  as  to  be  a worthy  acknowledgment  of  the 
blessings  we  enjoy. 

We  want  the  contribution  to  the  present  purpose  to  be 
general  throughout  our  city — and  unless  this  meeting  af- 
ford the  opportunity  for  that,  it  will  fail  to  come  up  to 
the  kindly  feeling  which  pervades  the  community.  This 
meeting  should  furnish  the  opportunity  to  all  to  do  just 
what  their  hearts  are  prompting  them  to.  It  should  fur- 
nish to  the  merchants  the  point,  where  they  may  cast 
some  of  their  bread  upon  the  waters  of  that  deep,  every 
track  of  which  is  whitened  by  the  sails  of  their  richly- 
laden  ships.  It  should  give  the  manufacturer,  who  is 
even  now  picturing  to  himself  the  frenzy  with  which  the 
mother’s  prayer  is  offered  up  that  her  own  children  may 
die  rather  than  that  they  should  no  longer  bear  the  pangs 
of  starvation,  a channel  through  which  he  may  follow  his 
own  heart’s  impulses.  It  should  open  to  the  mechanics, 
who  in  the  pride  of  their  independence  here  are  pained 
by  the  despair  which  they  know  is  painted — no,  not 
painted,  but  engraved — on  the  face  of  many  a father,  as 
he  realizes  that  his  once  strong  arm  has  no  longer  the 
power  to  carry  food  to  his  famishing  family,  the  path  by 
which  he  may  obey  this  call  of  Christian  charity  and  uni- 
versal love. 

This  meeting  should  open  for  these,  and  for  all,  a 
channel  of  communication  between  those  who  are  suffer- 
ing there,  and  those  who  sympathize  with  them  here. 
Once  opened,  such  a channel  would  be  filled,  as  by  a 
flood,  from  the  various  contributions  which  will  pour  into 
it  from  the  lowly  places,  as  well  as  from  the  high  places 
of  the  land. 


11 


None  can  object  to  the  objects  of  this  .* meeting., , If. 
any  think  that  in  distress  of  such  appalling  magnitude, 
all  which  Boston  can  do,  will  be  but  as  a drop ' id  the 
bucket,  they  are  mistaken  in  the  fact.  Boston  can  do 
good  for  thousands. 

If  any  one  whispers  that  charity  should  begin  at  home 
— acknowledge  the  truth  of  the  proverb,  but  remind  him 
that  there  is  no  such  Boston  proverb  as  that  it  should  end 
at  home. 

If  any  fear  that  contributions  for  this  purpose  will  de- 
tract from  the  aid  that  should  be  proffered  to  the  suffer- 
ing poor,  within  our  own  borders — tell  them  no — not  one 
iota ; the  charitable  offerings  of  very  few  reach  the  limit 
of  their  ability,  and  it  is  the  opened  hand  that  continues 
to  give. 

If  any  one  doubt  his  Christian  duty  in  this  matter,  to- 
wards those  whom  he  has  never  known  and  never  will,  let 
him  reflect  that  the  blessings  which  will  tremble  from  the 
lips  which  he  supplies,  will  be  invoked  from  the  same 
God  to  whom  he  is  offering  up  thanks  for  the  supply  of 
all  his  wants. 

In  this  belief  that  the  feeling  of  our  fellow  citizens  is 
all  right,  and  that  all  that  is  wanting  is  the  machinery 
for  its  exercise,  I will  move  these  Resolutions,  which  will 
supply  that  deficiency. 

RESOLUTIONS. 

Resolved , That  the  present  distress  of  the  people  of  Ire- 
land and  Scotland  makes  an  urgent  appeal  to  the  sympa- 
thy of  the  humane  of  all  nations,  that  it  is  the  Christian 
duty  as  it  will  be  the  acknowledged  pleasure  of  those 
whom  God  has  blessed  with  the  means  of  doing  good,  to 
adopt  prompt  measures  for  contributing  to  their  relief; 
that  an  opportunity  should  be  offered  to  allow  fellow 
citizens  to  do  what  they  may  for  this  object,  and  there- 
fore 


12 


. R&sobe'd,  /That  six  persons  be  appointed  to  be  an  Ex- 
ecutive. Committee,  to  collect  subscriptions  and  to  take 
all  necessary  steps  to  carry  out  the  objects  of  this  meet- 
ing- ’ ’ * 

Resolved , That  a Committee  of  four  from  each  Ward  be 
appointed  to  aid  the  Executive  Committee  in  raising 
money  by  a general  collection  throughout  the  city. 

Mr.  Stevenson  was  followed  by  Dr.  Samuel  G.  Howe, 
who  riveted  the  attention  of  his  audience,  while  he  ad- 
dressed them  as  follows : 

Mr.  Chairman  : — You  have  happily  reminded  us  of  the 
pleasing  contrast  between  the  present  feelings  of  this 
country  towards  England,  and  those  which  existed  a short 
time  ago,  during  the  negotiations  about  Oregon.  But 
no  where,  sir,  can  the  contrast  be  seen  more  strikingly 
than  within  these  hallowed  walls  this  very  night, — for,  in 
the  olden  time,  our  fathers  gathered  together  here  to  de- 
vise measures  for  breaking  the  political  union  with  Great 
Britain,  while  we  come  here  to  find  means  to  strengthen 
the  bonds  of  Christian  union  with  her,  and  to  show  the 
sympathy,  and  the  love  we  bear  to  those  of  our  brethren 
who  still  dwell  in  our  mother  land. 

I hail  this  event  as  a sign  of  the  dawning  of  that  hap- 
py day  whose  meridian  fulness  shall  show  peace  on  earth 
and  good  will  to  men. 

The  beautiful  words  of  Him  who  said  "it  is  more  blessed 
to  give  than  to  receive”  have  been  verified  by  thousands 
of  individuals  in  every  age,  until  their  truth  has  became 
an  axiom  in  morals ; but,  like  other  words  of  the  same 
great  Teacher,  they  have  not  yet  been  developed  in  half 
their  extent  and  their  truth ; nations  have  yet  to  learn, 
what  so  many  individuals  have  already  learned,  that  it  is 
better  to  act  from  generous  than  from  selfish  motives,- — 
that  it  is  better  to  love  than  to  hate,— that  it  is  better 
to  help  than  to  fight. 


13 


God  is  ever  bringing  real  and  permanent  good  out  of 
apparent  and  transient  evil,  and  if  the  grievous  dispensa- 
tion with  which  He  is  now  visiting  Ireland,  and  Scotland? 
and  Belgium,  shall  teach  the  nations  that  there  is  more 
true  glory, — more  real  pleasure, — more  lasting  advantage 
in  striving  to  excel  each  other  in  deeds  of  charity  than  in 
feats  of  arms,  then  will  this  dispensation  have  been  for 
good,  and  not  for  evil. 

But  we  have  not  come  together  to  speculate  upon  the 
moral  effect  of  passing  events;  we  have  come  here  to  act; — 
the  cry  of  distress  has  reached  our  ears  from  across  the 
Atlantic,  and  we  have  hurried  up  to  this  place  to  answer 
the  cry,  and  to  succor  the  distress. 

The  great  danger  is  that  our  people  may  be  daunted 
by  the  magnitude  of  the  evil.  It  is  not  a fire,  it  is  not  a 
flood,  it  is  not  an  earthquake,  whose  ravages  we  are  called 
upon  to  repair — it  is  a famine — a grievous  famine, — 
affecting  not  merely  hundreds,  or  thousands,  but  mil- 
lions. The  heart  sickens  at  the  thought  of  the  dread- 
ful sufferings  of  the  starving  poor,  and  the  mind  is  ap- 
palled by  the  apparent  impossibility  of  alleviating  them. 
But,  there  is  all  the  more  need  of  courage,  and,  when  we 
look  at  our  resources,  we  can  feel  it.  Boston  has  at  least 

20.000  families,  and  there  is  not  one  of  those  families  that 
would  not  engage  to  support  a fellow  being  a whole  year 
rather  than  have  him  perish  by  hunger  upon  their  door 
step.  Fellow  citizens,  let  us  imagine  that  the  starving 
Scotch  and  Irish  are  lying  pale,  and  haggard,  and  perishing 
upon  our  very  door  steps,  and  let  us  resolve  that  each  of 
us  will  take  charge  of  one  of  the  poor  creatures,  and  will 
keep  him  alive  at  least  one  year.  Boston  and  her  imme- 
diate neighborhood  can  send  15,000  barrels  of  flour,  or 
the  representative  of  them  in  cash,  and  these  will  keep 

15.000  people  alive  until  the  next  harvest.  Let  the  rest 
of  the  country,  and  the  rest  of  the  Anglo  Saxon  race  do 
as  much  in  proportion  to  their  means,  and,  with  God's 


14 


blessing,  we  will  keep  the  monster  famine  at  bay  in 
Scotland  and  Ireland,  for  a while  at  least. 

My  friends,  there  is  a great  virtue  in  a barrel  of  flour ; 
it  is  the  most  effectual  form  into  which  you  can  put  a 
prayer  for  a starving  fellow  creature.  You  assent,  I 
see, — and  yet,  do  not  know  that  virtue — because  you  do 
not  know  what  hunger  really  is.  None  who  have  not 
been  out  of  this  country,  and  very  few  who  have  been 
abroad,  have  had  any  real  experience  of  what  hunger  is. 

I can  tell  you  something  about  it,  because  I have  been 
among  a people  who  were  perishing  with  hunger,  as  the 
Irish  and  Scotch  now  are,  and  it  was  my  good  fortune  to 
witness  the  effects  of  the  distribution  of  the  supplies  of 
corn  meal,  which  were  sent  out  from  this  country,  and  to 
know  how  like  an  enchanter’s  wand,  hunger  changed 
that  poor  meal  into  a gorgeous  feast.  I refer  to  Greece. 

War  of  the  most  ferocious  and  ruthless  kind  had  rav- 
aged the  land  for  years;  the  villages  had  been  burned, 
the  towns  destroyed,  the  olive  trees  cut  down,  the  vines 
pulled  up,  and  the  inhabitants  had  fled  to  the  mountains 
for  safety. 

I was  in  the  mountains  when  some  of  the  provisions 
were  landed  upon  the  shores  of  the  Peloponessus,  and 
went  to  superintend  their  distribution.  The  poor,  half 
naked,  half  famished  wretches  came  trooping  down  from 
their  hiding  places — ten,  twenty,  thirty  miles  distance — 
and  tremblingly  held  out  their  hands,  their  caps  or  their 
bags.  Happy  was  the  family  that  got  a barrel  of  corn 
meal!  and  grateful  to  my  ears  were  the  blessings  they 
showered  upon  my  countrymen.  I have  known  them, 
where  fire  and  cooking  materials  were  not  at  hand,  to 
moisten  the  kiln-dried  meal  with  water,  and  eat  it  raw. 
I can  answer  for  it,  that  when  dried  in  the  sun,  it  made  a 
palatable  cake,  as  you  would  have  found  it,  if  you  had 
been  living  as  we  sometimes  did  upon  sorrel  and  snails, 
dished  up  without  salt  or  pepper. 


15 


Well;  these  provisions  were  of  immense  use — for  they 
not  only  put  food  into  the  stomach,  but  courage  into  the 
hearts  of  the  Greeks ; and  so  would  your  supplies  to  the 
Scotch  and  Irish  do. 

Let  me  assure  you,  that  when  famine  invades  a land, 
all  its  horrors  are  increased  by  the  demoralizing  effects  of 
fear ; it  is  fear  which  makes  the  body  yield  quickly  to 
the  pestilence  which  follows  famine ; fear  freezes  up  all 
the  small  streams  of  neighborly  love  and  charity  ; fear 
makes  him  who  has  a little  bread  refuse  it  to  a dying 
neighbor,  lest  perchance  his  own  wife  or  child  should  be 
dying  for  want  of  it  to-morrow. 

Those  who  know  much  of  practical  charity  know  that 
its  best  sources  are  not  in  the  purses  of  the  rich;  the 
charities  of  the  rich  flow  in  a few  large  streams,  and  are 
seen  of  men,  while  the  charities  of  the  middling  classes, 
and  of  the  poor  themselves,  are  ever  silently  descending 
like  the  dews  of  heaven,  and  spreading  their  refreshing  in- 
fluence around  them.  The  mite  of  the  poor,  given  as  it  is 
with  his  hearty  sympathy  to  his  fellow  poor,  is  magnified 
into  greater  proportions  than  the  treasures  which  the 
rich  throw  down  from  their  high  places. 

Now,  in  the  time  of  famine  among  the  Greeks,  all 
these  sources  ofi  charity  were  dried  up  by  fear;  and  the 
effect  of  the  American  contributions  was  to  open  them 
again ; nor  can  we  doubt  that  the  effect  would  be  the 
same  in  Scotland  and  Ireland. 

Men  will  take  courage  and  hope ; they  will  see  that 
help  is  at  hand ; and  those  who  have  a little  will  give  to 
those  who  have  none. 

But  let  us  not  look  to  the  remote  effects,  let  us  try  to 
relieve  the  present  evil.  Let  us  not  be  daunted  by  its 
magnitude, — let  us  not  speculate  about  its  origin — let  us 
not  stop  to  ask  whether,  if  we  relieve  the  suffering  now, 
it  will  not  be  just  as  bad  next  year;  the  sufferers  are 
like  men  drowning  before  our  eyes, — let  us  save  them 


16 


now,  and  if  they  fall  in  again,  why,  we  will  pull  them  out 
again,  if  we  can.  Let  us  not  ask  what  others  are  going 
to  do ; let  not  the  credit  of  our  city  he  our  motive,  hut  let 
us  just  do  all  that  we  possibly  can.  Finally,  let  it  not  be 
done  for  show;  and  let  it  not  be  done  as  charity.  There  is 
no  charity  about  it; — it  is  a sacred  debt  of  humanity;  let 
us  pay  it, — principal  and  interest ; and,  of  whatever  else 
the  world  may  accuse  us,  let  them  have  no  chance  to  ac- 
cuse us  of  repudiating  that. 

The  Hon.  Edward  Everett  next  addressed  the  meeting. 
The  announcement  of  his  name  was  greeting  with  enthu- 
siastic cheers. 

I rise,  Mr.  Chairman,  at  your  invitation,  to  unite  with 
the  gentlemen  who  have  addressed  the  meeting  with 
such  ability,  in  recommending  the  passage  of  the  resolu- 
tions. I scarce  know  in  what  manner  to  express  myself 
on  the  occasion.  The  general  topics  of  remark  which 
suggest  themselves  have  been  exhausted  by  yourself,  sir, 
and  the  gentlemen  who  have  already  spoken.  I am  un- 
willing, I may  say  I should  be  ashamed  to  think,  that  any 
labored  argument  or  any  studied  words  of  persuasion 
■were  necessary,  to  convince  an  assembly  of  the  citizens 
of  Boston  of  the  duty,  or  to  awaken  in  them  the  desire, 
of  speeding  relief  to  the  sufferers  by  famine  in  Ireland. 
If  it  be  our  only  object  to  lay  the  most  important  facts  of 
the  case  before  those  who  have  not  particularly  turned 
their  attention  to  the  subject,  the  task  is  not  without  dif- 
ficulty. Since  I received  the  invitation  of  the  committee, 
the  evening  before  the  last,  to  attend  this  meeting,  I have 
looked  over  the  newspapers  received  by  the  last  steamer 
from  Liverpool,  and  I find  it  hard  to  make  a selection 
from  the  painful  accounts  with  which  their  columns  are 
filled.  Mere  general  statistics  do  not  answer  the  purpose. 
We  read  of  the  large  proportion  of  the  population  depriv- 
ed of  their  accustomed  food ; of  the  numbers  who  offer 


17 


themselves  for  labor  on  the  public  works,  beyond  the  ut- 
most power  of  the  official  agents  to  employ  them ; of  the 
numbers,  still  more  wretched,  who  knock  at  the  doors  of 
the  alms-houses,  and  find  them  closed;  of  the  reputed  num- 
bers even  of  those  who  perish  by  starvation,  or  the  dis- 
eases produced  by  scanty  and  unwholesome  food.  All 
these  matters,  stated  in  general  terms,  fail  to  bring  the 
dreadful  reality  of  things  with  sufficient  vividness  to  our 
minds.  If  we  seek  to  go  further,  and  attempt  to  repeat 
the  horrid  details  of  striking  cases  of  destitution  and  suf- 
fering, we  are  in  danger  of  plunging  into  scenes  too 
dreadful  to  be  recited  in  public.  a Of  all  the  maladies,’’ 
says  the  great  master  of  English  eloquence,  to  whom  you, 
sir,  have  referred,  “ which  beset  and  waylay  the  life  of 
man,  this  plague  of  hunger  comes  the  nearest  to  the  hu- 
man heart ; and  is  that  wherein  the  proudest  of  us  all 
feels  himself  to  be  nothing  more  than  he  is.  But  I find 
myself  unable,”  he  adds,  “ to  manage  it  with  decorum. 
These  details  are  of  a species  of  horror  so  nauseous  and 
disgusting ; they  are  so  degrading  to  the  sufferer  and  the 
hearer ; they  are  so  humiliating  to  human  nature  itself, 
that,  on  better  thoughts,  I find  it  more  advisable  to  throw 
a pall  over  this  hideous  object,  and  leave  it  to  your  gen- 
eral conceptions.” 

Mr.  Chairman,  it  is  universally  known  that  there  are 
above  two  millions  of  people  in  Ireland  who  subsist  almost 
exclusively  on  potatoes.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say 
that,  in  the  very  best  of  times  and  under  prosperous  cir- 
cumstances, they  live  on  the  borders  of  starvation.  What 
is  looked  upon  as  plenty  by  this  part  of  the  Irish  popula- 
tion, would  be  regarded  by  us  as  little  better  than  fam- 
ine. There  is  nothing  to  fall  back  upon,  in  case  of  hard 
times ; no  retrenchment  in  the  quantity,  no  reduction  in 
the  quality,  no  substitution  of  cheaper  articles.  They 
already  live  upon  the  smallest  quantity  of  the  cheapest 
food;  and  I have  been  told  that  it  is  a practice  to  eat  the 

3 


18 


potatoes  under  boiled,  because  in  that  condition,  they  will 
lie  longer  in  the  stomach,  and  thus  delude  its  craving 
emptiness.  Two  disastrous  seasons  have,  in  some  parts 
of  the  country  almost  wholly,  in  others  altogether,  cut  off 
the  accustomed  scant  supply  of  this,  the  cheapest  article 
of  food ; and  the  alarming  question  is  how  is  the  want  to 
be  supplied ; how  are  the  horrors  of  general  starvation  to 
be  staved  off?  To  which  question  I can  only  answer, 
Heaven  knows.  It  must  be,  I fear,  a more  sagacious  per- 
son than  any  in  this  assembly,  who  can  return  a satisfac- 
tory answer.  The  wisest  heads  in  England  and  Ireland 
seem  confounded  at  the  extent  of  the  evil.  The  govern- 
ment has  contrived  a very  extensive  scheme  of  employ- 
ment on  public  works,  which  seems  to  have  had  but  par- 
tial success ; — in  fact,  such  is  the  infirmity  of  human 
counsel,  to  have  been  productive  of  some  positive  evils  of 
a serious  nature.  At  any  rate,  it  is  plain,  that  to  employ 
two  millions  of  people,  or  indeed  any  considerable  portion 
of  them,  of  a sudden,  in  an  unaccustomed  way,  by  public 
authority,  must  be  a very  dangerous  experiment  upon 
the  regular  march  of  industry ; and  if  it  were  otherwise, 
what  are  the  unemployed  to  do?  Nay,  what  are  the  em- 
ployed to  do  with  their  pittance  of  wages,  in  districts 
where  there  is  little  or  no  food ; where  what  little  there 
is,  can  be  bought  only,  at  what  is  called  with  dreadful 
significance,  a famine  price  ? 

The  natural  and  necessary  consequence  of  this  state  of 
things  is  that  death — death  by  starvation, — is  now  a 
common  event — is  daily  happening.  The  plague  having 
done  its  work  on  the  lower  animals,  has  fallen  on  man. 
The  cow  of  the  small  farmer,  all  important  as  she  is  to  his 
family,  has  perished  or  been  killed ; the  pig,  the  poultry 
of  the  cottier  have  in  like  manner  died  for  want  of  food, 
or  been  killed  to  eke  out  a few  days’  miserable  susten- 
ance to  their  famished  owner, — the  watch  dog  has  been 
drowned  (and  the  poor  peasant  v7ho  has  perhaps  no  other 


19 


living  being  lie  can  call  friend,  had  almost  as  lief  drown 
a child,) — every  wretched  substitute  for  wholesome  food, 
bark,  roots,  apple  parings,  turnip  skins  have  been  ex- 
hausted, and  now  famine  in  all  its  horrors  stalks  through 
the  land.  To  what  actual  extent  the  work  of  death  had 
gone  at  the  last  accounts,  it  is  not  easy  to  say.  There  is 
unavoidable  over-estimate  in  the  first  reports  of  such  gen- 
eral calamities.  I hold  in  my  hand  an  extract  from  the 
proceedings  of  a large  meeting  of  the  nobility  and  gentry 
of  Ireland,  held  at  Dublin  on  the  14th  of  January,  which 
is  the  latest  authentic  statement  I have  seen ; and  I find 
one  of  the  gentlemen  who  spoke,  using  this  language, 
“ that  five  thousand  had  already  perished  by  want  and 
by  disease ; fever  had  made  its  appearance  in  many 
parts,  and  was  daily  cutting  off  the  people  by  hundreds. 
The  sole  cause  was  want  of  food.”  Mr.  O’Connell  at  the 
same  meeting,  or  on  some  other  recent  similar  occasion,  is 
reported  to  have  said,  that  three  hundred  were  dying  daily; 
and  as  far  as  I have  been  able  to  form  an  opinion,  by 
running  my  eye  over  the  provincial  accounts  transferred 
to  the  London  papers,  I should  think  that  one  death  daily 
from  every  neighborhood  in  the  South  and  West  of  Ire- 
land, was  not  an  extravagant  estimate.  If  this  be  so,  Mr. 
O’Connell’s  statement  is  quite  within  the  bounds  of  the 
dreadful  reality. 

Then,  Mr.  Chairman,  as  you  have  well  remarked,  these 
accounts  come  down  to  the  end  of  the  year,  at  farthest  to 
the  middle  of  January.  Six  or  seven  long  months  are 
yet  to  pass,  before  any  harvest  of  grain  can  ripen  and  be 
reaped.  What  is  to  carry  the  people  of  Ireland  through 
these  dismal  months,  in  which  famine,  despair  and  death 
will  be  doing  their  work  on  a population  already  driven 
to  the  verge  of  madness.  It  cannot  but  be  that  the  de- 
moralization already  commenced  will  go  on.  In  the  na 
ture  of  things,  due  care  to  make  ready  the  land  for  the 
coming  season  will  be  neglected.  Seed  corn  and  seed 


20 


potatoes,  as  yon  have  observed,  where  they  exist  will  be 
consumed  for  food.  Outrages  on  property,  under  the  spur 
of  this  sharp  necessity,  will  take  place.  Those  who  have 
a little  will  hoard ; those  who  have  nothing  will  plunder. 
In  the  midst  of  frightful  want  there  will  be  still  more 
frightful  waste ; till,  in  the  action  and  re-action  of  these 
physical  and  moral  causes,  there  is  great  reason  to  fear 
that  the  frame-work  of  society,  none  too  well  compacted 
in  this  unhappy  country,  will  wholly  break  down,  and 
that  horrors  will  be  acted  out  in  Ireland,  in  the  course  of 
the  ensuing  Spring  and  Summer,  for  which  language  has 
no  adequate  terms  of  description.  God  grant  it  may  be 
otherwise,  and  nothing  can  do  so  much  to  prevent  these 
forebodings  from  being  realized,  as  to  show  to  the  people 
of  Ireland,  in  the  most  effectual  manner,  that  the  eyes  of 
a sympathising  world  are  upon  them ; but  I do  fear,  Sir, 
if  not  checked  by  some  such  genial  influence,  that  the 
fertile  plains  and  lovely  vallies  of  this  unhappy  country 
will  be  the  theatre  before  long  of  woes  and  horrors  which 
it  sickens  one  but  to  think  of  it. 

And  now,  Mr.  Chairman,  we  have  come  to  consult  to- 
gether what  we  can  do  to  contribute  toward  the  mitiga- 
tion of  this  great  calamity ; or  rather  to  encourage  each 
other  to  do  the  utmost,  in  his  power.  What  little  I 
thought  to  say  on  this  topic,  has  been  anticipated  by  the 
gentlemen  (Mr.  Stevenson  and  Dr.  ITowe)  who  have  al- 
ready addressed  you  with  such  feeling  and  pertinence. 
It  is  true  that  no  individual,  no  community  even,  can  do 
much  to  relieve  the  sum  total  of  this  mighty  calamity ; 
but  every  community,  every  individual,  can  do  something, 
and  the  aggregate  of  these  somethings  is  to  form,  sir,  for 
months,  the  only  stay  of  famishing  millions.  Don’t  tell 
me  wre  can  do  but  little,  when  the  little  that  we  and  oth- 
ers can  do  is  the  all  of  a starving  country.  And  this  I 
will  say,  sir,  that  there  is  no  community  on  earth  that  can 
do  more  than  this  ; I mean  that  there  is  not  another  of  its 


21 


size,  embracing  a wider  extent  of  prosperity.  The  glori- 
ous sun  in  the  heavens,  that  looks  down  on  the  misery  of 
famishing  Ireland,  does  not,  in  his  wide  circuit,  shine  upon 
a spot  more  abounding,  in  proportion  to  its  size,  with  the 
physical  comforts  of  life,  and  therefore  better  able  to  min- 
ister of  its  surplus  to  the  relief  of  that  misery.  I shall 
therefore  be  surprised — I shall  be  deeply  grieved — if  on 
the  list  of  contributions  for  the  mitigation  of  this  truly 
appalling  calamity,  the  name  of  any  place  shall,  in  propor- 
tion to  its  numbers,  stand  higher  than  that  of  Boston. 
Indeed,  I have  no  fears  that  it  will  be  so.  If  I unhappily 
am  disappointed,  I shall  at  least  hope,  Mr.  Chairman,  that 
not  much  will  be  hereafter  said  of  what  we  have  been 
willing  to  regard  as  the  proverbial  liberality  of  Boston. 

Liberality , sir ! I am  almost  ashamed  to  use  the  word  at 
all  on  this  occasion.  The  liberality  of  giving  from  your 
abundance,  to  save  the  lives  of  men,  women,  and  children, 
who  to  all  intents,  as  was  so  well  said  by  the  eloquent 
gentleman  (Dr.  ITowe)  who  preceded  me,  are  starving 
upon  your  door-step  ! If  we  call  this  liberality,  I should 
like  to  know  what  we  should  consider  a duty.  I rejoice 
to  believe  that  I speak  in  the  hearing  of  those,  who  re- 
gard the  work  in  which  we  now  engage,  as  one  of  duty, 
and  that  of  the  most  imperative  kind  ; — a duty  so  high 
and  sacred,  that  could  we  neglect  it,  I should  almost  ex- 
pect that  the  walls  of  these  massy  warehouses,  filled  al- 
most to  bursting  with  every  article  of  food  which  enters 
largely  into  commerce,  would  fall  and  crush  us  as  we 
passed. 

You  carried  our  minds,  Mr.  Mayor,  by  an  interesting 
allusion  to  the  distant  East.  There  is  a dark  tale  in  the 
traditions  of  a less  distant  foreign  land,  which  has  haunt- 
ed my  recollection,  in  reference  to  some  of  the  sad  details 
of  the  suffering  which  prevails  in  Ireland,  as  I have  seen 
them  in  the  English  papers.  It  is  hardly  appropriate  to 
business  character  of  this  meeting,  but  I have  not 


22 


been  able  to  get  away  from  it.  An  Italian  nobleman  in 
the  middle  ages,  fell  into  the  power  of  his  enemy,  he  and 
several  children, — who  threw  them  into  a prison,  and  after 
long  confinement,  determined  to  starve  them  to  death. 
The  door  of  the  dungeon  was  locked  and  the  key  thrown 
into  the  Arno.  Thus  much  I believe  is  matter  of  history. 
The  secrets  of  that  prison  house  are  known  only  as  they 
were  revealed  to  the  imagination  of  Dante.  After  the 
first  day  passed  without  food,  the  father  too  well  forebod- 
ing the  doom  that  awaited  them,  a dear  child,  his  little 
Anselm,  plaintively  asks  the  cause  of  his  gloomy  silence. 
Another  and  another  day  passes  and  still  no  food.  The 
parent,  not  so  much  from  hunger  as  in  frenzy,  gnaws  his 
own  hands.  His  children,  duteous  even  in  that  dire  ex- 
tremity, supposing  that  the  pangs  of  starvation  were 
more  keenly  felt  by  their  father  than  by  themselves,  im- 
plore him,  instead  of  devouring  his  own  limbs,  to  feed  on 
them,  and  thus  take  back  the  wretched  flesh  with  which 
he  had  clothed  them.  On  the  fourth  day,  Gaddo  crawls 
to  his  wretched  parent’s  feet,  and  feebly  crying,  “ My  - 
father,  why  do  you  not  help  me  ?”  dies. 

This  piteous  tale,  embalmed  in  the  tears'  of  five  centu- 
ries, is  no  longer  a remote  poetic  vision.  It  is,  in  all  the 
substantial  features,  a horrid  reality,  passing  within  a 
fortnight’s  sail  of  us.  There  is  not  an  inch  of  terra  firma, 
sir,  between  the  city  over  which  you  preside  and  the 
scene  of  these  woes.  They  are  taking  place  not  in  a 
solitary  instance,  but  in  hundreds ; not  within  the  walls 
of  a dungeon,  amidst  the  fury  of  civil  wars,  in  a benighted 
age,  but  within  open  doors,  by  the  way  side,  beneath  the 
blue  sky,  in  the  face  of  heaven  and  of  men, — in  the  nine- 
teenth century  • in  this  all-daring,  all-achieving,  all-boast- 
ing nineteenth  century ; and  astonished  Europe  and  as- 
tonished America  stand  looking  on,  paralysed  as  it  were 
by  the  extent  of  the  calamity.  But  paralysed,  I trust,  si!*, 
but  for  a moment.  A spirit  of  Christian  charity  has  been 


23 

'awakened  on  both  sides  of  the  water,  worthy  of  the  occa- 
sion ; and  well  I know  that  Faneuil  Hall  is  not  the  spot 
, where  it  will  burn  with  the  least  fervor.  Let  me  only  be- 
seech you,  what  you  do,  to  do  quickly.  It  is  a fearful 
thought  that,  do  what  you  will,  not  a barrel  of  flour,  pur- 
chased with  the  funds  provided  this  evening,  can  be  laid 
down  within  the  Cove  of  Cork  under  six  weeks,  at  the 
very  soonest,  taking  the  average  chances  of  sailing  vessels 
at  this  season.  Before  it  gets  there,  the  man — the  family, 
which  it  might  have  saved,  has  perished.  Yes,  sir,  while 
I fill  your  your  ears  with  these  empty  words,  some  of  our 
poor  fellow  Christians  in  Ireland  have  starved  to  death  ! 

A vote  was  then  taken,  the  resolutions  were  unani- 
mously adopted ; and,  the  following  gentlemen  selected 
as  the  Executive  Committee  : 

Messrs.  JOSIAII  QUINCY,  Jr., 

JAMES  K.  MILLS, 

DAVID  IIENSHAW, 

PATRICK  T.  JACKSON, 

G.  W.  CROCKETT, 

J.  INGERSOLL  BOWDITCIT, 

THOMAS  LEE. 

And  the  Meeting  then  adjourned. 


